· The "castration" of the former Afghan president, Najibullah in 1996. The Taliban "dragged his body behind a jeep for several rounds of the palace and then shot him dead".

· The 1998 massacre of 600 Uzbeks in the province of Faryab. "Western aid workers... said civilians were dragged from their homes, lined up and shot."

· After the capture of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998 the Taliban indulged in the "frenzied killing of shop owners, cart pullers, women and children shoppers". Women and girls were raped, and 2,000-5,000 civilians, mainly ethnic Hazaras, were massacred.

· The public execution in Yakaolang of at least 170 civilians, mainly from humanitarian organisations. "According to Amnesty International, eyewitnesses reported the deliberate killing of dozens of civilians hiding in a mosque."

Other reports include accounts from refugees and human rights groups of the beating of infants, killing of children and hanging of bodies from lampposts.